Lensed tapered optical waveguide

ABSTRACT

An optical coupling element for use in large numerical aperture collecting and condensing systems. The optical coupling element includes a curved surface such as a lens at the output of a tapered light pipe (TLP). The TLP in combination with the curved surface alters the divergence angle and the area of the light exiting the curved surface. Electromagnetic radiation emitted by a source is collected and focused onto a target by positioning the source of electromagnetic radiation substantially at a first focal point of a primary reflector so that the primary reflector produces rays of radiation reflected from the primary reflector that converge at a second focal point of the secondary reflector. The optical coupling element is positioned so that its input end is substantially proximate with the second focal point of the secondary reflector. The converging rays of radiation reflected from the secondary reflector pass through input end and are transmitted towards the curved surface, where their divergence angle and area are adjusted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.10/155,234, filed May 28, 2002, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/293,181, filed May 25, 2001, andU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/294,590, filed Jun. 1, 2001 andU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/296,146, filed Jun. 7, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to waveguides that collect and condense lightfrom a light source, transforming the area and divergence angle of thelight from their input to their output with minimum loss of brightness.

2. Description of the Related Art

The objective of systems that collect, condense, and coupleelectromagnetic radiation into a target such as a standard waveguide,e.g. a single fiber or fiber bundle, or output electromagnetic radiationto the input of a projection engine, is to maximize the brightness ofthe electromagnetic radiation at the target. There are several commonsystems for collecting and condensing light from a lamp for suchillumination and projection applications.

One optical collection and condensing systems, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/604,921, the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference, provides a dual-paraboloid reflector system. This opticalcollection and condensing system, as illustrated in FIG. 1(a), uses twogenerally symmetric paraboloid reflectors 10, 11 that are positioned sothat light reflected from the first reflector 10 is received in acorresponding section of the second reflector 11. In particular, lightemitted from a light source 12, such as an arc lamp, is collected by thefirst parabolic reflector 10 and collimated along the optical axistoward the second reflector 11. The second reflector 11 receives thecollimated beam of light and focuses this light at the target 13positioned at the focal point.

The optical system of FIG. 1(a) may employ a retro-reflector 14 inconjunction with the first paraboloid reflector 10 to capture radiationemitted by the light source 12 in a direction away from the firstparaboloid reflector 10 and reflect the captured radiation back throughthe light source 12. In particular, the retro-reflector 14 has agenerally spherical shape with a focus located substantially near thelight source 12 (i.e., at the focal point of the first paraboloidreflector) toward the first paraboloid reflector to thereby increase theintensity of the collimated rays reflected therefrom.

In FIG. 1(a) is shown light paths for three different rays (a, b, and c)emitted from the light source 12 when viewed in a direction normal tothe lamp axis. The light output from a lamp subtends an angle of about90° around an axis normal to the lamp, as indicated by rays a and c inFIG. 1(a).

The light output from a lamp subtends a cone angle of nearly 180°, onthe other hand, when viewed in a direction parallel to the lamp axis, asindicated by rays a′ and c′ in FIG. 1(b).

One shortcoming of the above described on-axis, dual-paraboloid opticalsystem is that a large angle is produced between rays a and c, and raysa′ and c′, at a target. As a result, the rays strike the target 13 at ahigh angle of incidence relative to the target surface. Thus, thenumerical aperture (NA) at the input of the target 13 may be very large,sometimes as high as 1.0, while the area upon which the light is focusedis small. A large numerical aperture combined with a small area may beunsuitable for the optical components to which light from the system maybe coupled. If a different, e.g. smaller, numerical aperture is desired,some means of transforming the area and divergence angle of the lightwith minimum loss of brightness may be incorporated into the device.

Representative means of transforming input areas and divergence anglesof light are lenses and tapered optical waveguides, also known astapered light pipes (TLP). While lenses provide an efficient means oftransforming input areas and divergence angles of light, they require acertain amount of space in which to operate. Also, they are not welladapted to large numerical apertures. Consequently, tapered light pipesare often used instead of lenses. Tapered light pipes, however, must berelatively lengthy to transform light efficiently.

In U.S. application Ser. No. 09/669,841, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference, a dual ellipsoidal reflector system isdescribed as providing 1:1 magnification for small light source target.This optical collection and condensing system, as illustrated in FIG. 2,uses two generally symmetric ellipsoid reflectors 20, 21 that arepositioned so that light reflected from the first reflector 20 isreceived in a corresponding section of the second reflector 21. Inparticular, light emitted from the light source 22 is collected by thefirst elliptical reflector 20 and focused onto the optical axis 25toward the second reflector 21. The second reflector 21 receives thefocused beam of light and refocuses this light at the target 23positioned at the focal point.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, the dual-ellipsoid system suffers from thesame disadvantage as the dual-paraboloid system in that a large angle isproduced between ray a and ray c at the target. As a result, ray a andray c also strike the target at large angles of incidence relative tothe target surface, requiring further transformation of the input areaand divergence angle of the light.

Another embodiment of the dual-ellipsoid system may be seen in FIG. 3.This dual-ellipsoid system suffers from the same disadvantage as theabove-mentioned dual-paraboloid and dual-ellipsoid systems in that alarge angle is produced between ray a and ray c at the target. Here too,ray a and ray c strike the target at large angles of incidence,requiring further transformation of the input area and divergence angleof the light.

In practice, light with such a large NA may be transformed such that theNA is smaller and the area is larger following the brightness principle.The transformation may be performed with, e.g. a tapered light pipe.

A standard long tapered light pipe 40 a with a flat input surface 41 afor use with the above systems is shown in FIG. 4(a). A standard shorttapered light pipe 40 b with a flat input surface 41 b for use with theabove systems is shown in FIG. 4(b). Both the long and the short taperedlight pipes may be used to transform light having a small area d₁ andlarge numerical aperture NA₁ at the input 41 to a larger area d₂ andsmaller numerical aperture NA₂ at the output 42. If light 43 impingesthe tapered light pipe 40 at large angles of incidence 44 as shown inFIG. 4, the tapering of the light pipe 40 will transform the large inputangles 44 into smaller output angles 45. The degree to which the anglesare transformed will depend on the degree of taper. For ideal taperedlight pipes, brightness is conserved. Consequently, for an ideal taperedlight pipe, the product of the numerical aperture NA₁ and the area d₁ ofthe light at the input 41 will be equal to the product of the numericalaperture NA₂ and the area d₂ of the light at the output 42. To wit:d1*NA1=d2*NA2   (1)In actual implementation, optimizations need to be performed such thatthe optimized dimensions may deviate from the ideal configurations.

The output angles 45 are designed for a specific system by matching thetapered light pipe to an output device. In designing a tapered lightpipe, three of the variables will often be known, and the fourth can becalculated. In one example, a tapered light pipe of length 75.0 mm wasdesigned with d₁=3.02 mm, NA₁=0.7, and d₂=9.0 mm. The output numericalaperture NA₂ is thus predicted to be 0.23. Upon fabricating the taperedlight pipe, however, the actual numerical aperture at the output wasfound to be 0.26, larger than the predicted 0.23. Such a large numericalaperture will result in a loss of coupling efficiency in subsequentoptical elements. But if the input area is reduced to reduce thenumerical aperture at the output, less light will be coupled into thetapered light pipe in the first place, reducing the overall collectionefficiency of the system.

The reason the numerical aperture at the output is larger than predictedis due to an assumption underlying equation (1) to the effect that anideal tapered light pipe is of infinite length. For a tapered light pipeof infinite length, the angle of taper would be zero. In actuality,however, the angle of taper must be some number larger than zero, sincethe tapered light pipe is of finite length, and so the actual numericalaperture differs from that predicted by the equation. As the taperedlight pipe gets longer, the actual numerical aperture converges to thepredicted numerical aperture. A longer tapered light pipe, however, mayrequire more space.

Furthermore, when the output numerical aperture of a tapered light pipesuch as those shown in FIG. 4 was measured by placing a pinhole againstthe output face, an angle shift was observed which indicated that theoutput light may not be telecentric.

In FIG. 5 is shown a radiation envelope of a typical arc lamp. Radiationtends to be emitted by an arc lamp in a pattern that subtends an angleof ±9020 in a plane parallel to the axis of the lamp (z-axis in FIG. 5),and 360° around the axis of the lamp. If the envelope were projectedalong the z-axis onto a flat surface, it would appear to be circular.Light focused at the target of a dual paraboloid or dual ellipsoidreflector configuration with retro-reflectors from such a lamp may, e.g.have an elliptical numerical aperture (NA) that varies from 1.0 in thez-direction to 0.7 in, e.g. the x-direction.

A numerical aperture (NA) of a system, such as the dual paraboloidsystem shown in FIG. 1(a) may, however, be rectangular as shown in FIG.6, rather than circular or elliptical. The NA along the diagonal of across-section of an input surface may thus be larger than the NA ineither the x or z directions. When the light is transformed by, e.g. aTLP, a similar rectangular or square angular distribution may beobtained at the output, as shown in FIG. 7, which is a square in thisexample. Since the radiation input to the system has a circular orelliptical distribution, however, a circular NA, such as the one shownin FIG. 8, or an elliptical NA may be more appropriate for commonoptical systems.

FIG. 9 shows various configurations of input apertures for a target. Theinput apertures generally have aspect ratios greater than one. Theaspect ratios of the input apertures may thus be made to be similar tothe aspect ratio of the emission area of an arc lamp viewed from theside. Matching an input aperture at the target to an arc, however, doesnot necessarily match it with the final output device, e.g. a fiber orprojection engine. It would be desirable, therefore, for a transformingdevice to transform the aspect ratio and the NA of the input light intoa satisfactory aspect ratio and NA for the output device.

Therefore, there remains a need to provide an efficient means oftransforming input area and divergence angle of light, in a relativelyshort space, such that the output is telecentric and has a circular orelliptical NA distribution that may be symmetric.

SUMMARY

An optical coupling element for use in large numerical aperturecollecting and condensing systems. The optical coupling element includesa tapered light pipe with an input end and a lens on the output side.The input end may be octagonal. The optical coupling element may beplaced at the input end of a fiber, fiber bundle, or projection engine.The tapered light pipe and the lens adjusts the area of the area of thelight and its numerical aperture to suit the fiber, fiber bundle, orprojection engine. The lens can also parallelize or collimate the lightto produce a telecentric output.

In particular, a collecting and condensing system comprises a source ofelectromagnetic radiation, an optical coupling element to be illuminatedwith at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by thesource, the optical coupling element comprising a tapered light pipewith a curved surface at its output end, a reflector having a first andsecond focal points, the source being located proximate to the firstfocal point of the reflector to produce rays of radiation that reflectfrom the first focal point to the second focal point and convergesubstantially at the second focal point; and wherein the input end ofthe tapered light pipe may be located proximate to the second focalpoint of the reflector to collect the electromagnetic radiation.

Electromagnetic radiation emitted by the source of electromagneticradiation may be collected and focused onto the input end of a taperedlight pipe by positioning the source of electromagnetic radiationsubstantially at a first focal point of a reflector so that the sourceproduces rays of radiation that are reflected from the reflector,converging substantially at a second focal point of the reflector. Anoptical coupling element including a tapered light pipe having a curvedoutput surface may be positioned so that the input end of the taperedlight pipe may be substantially proximate with the second focal point ofthe reflector, whereby the converging rays of radiation reflected fromthe reflector pass through the tapered light pipe and curved surface,such that the divergence angle and the area of the light may be adjustedto suit further elements such as fiber optics, waveguides, polarizationbeam splitters, or projection engines.

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill be further understood from the following description of thepreferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1(a) shows a schematic diagram of a collecting and condensingsystem for use with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1(b) shows a detail of the lamp and the first reflector of theembodiment shown in FIG. 1(a), viewed along the reflector axis;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a collecting and condensing systemfor use with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a variation of the collecting andcondensing system shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) shows schematic diagrams of conventional taperedlight pipes;

FIG. 5 shows a representative radiation envelope of a lamp for use withan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a diagram of a representative numerical aperture;

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a representative numerical aperture;

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a representative numerical aperture;

FIG. 9 shows various configurations of input apertures;

FIG. 10 a shows a collecting and condensing system according to a first,third, and fourth embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10 b shows a collecting and condensing system according to a secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a fifthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a sixthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a seventhembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a eighthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a ninthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 16 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a tenthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a eleventhembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18 shows a collecting and condensing system according to a twelfthembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 19 shows a collecting and condensing system according to athirteenth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 20 shows some representative tapers for use with an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 21 shows some representative cross-sections of an output end foruse with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 shows some representative cross-sections of an input end for usewith an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 23 shows some representative cross-sections of an input surface foruse with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 24 shows some representative cross-sections of an output surfacefor use with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 25 shows a TLP for use with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 26 shows a collecting and condensing system according to afifteenth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 27 shows a top view of a portable front projection system accordingto a sixteenth embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 28 shows a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 27.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 10 a and 10 b is shown a collecting and condensing system 1000used to launch electromagnetic radiation 1001 into an optical couplingelement 1002 composed of a curved surface 1003 at an output end 1015 ofa tapered light pipe (TLP) 1004. TLP 1004 may be, e.g. a straight lightpipe (SLP), as shown in FIG. 20 a, or it may have a profile such as anincreasing taper, as shown in FIG. 20 b, a decreasing taper, as shown inFIG. 20 c, or a curved taper, as shown in FIGS. 20 d and 20 e.

Various cross-sections of output end 1015 are shown in FIG. 21. Outputend 1015 may have, e.g. a rectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. 21a, a square cross-section as shown in FIG. 21 b, an ellipticalcross-section as shown in FIG. 21 c, a circular cross-section as shownin FIG. 21 d, an octagonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 21 e, ahexagonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 21 f, or a polygonalcross-section. Curved surface 1003 may be, e.g. an integral part of theTLP 1004 or a separate lens attached fixedly to an output end 1015 ofTLP 1004.

TLP 1004 has an input end 1007. Various cross-sections of input end 1007are shown in FIG. 22. Input end 1007 may have, e.g. may have, e.g. arectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. 22 a, a square cross-sectionas shown in FIG. 22 b, an elliptical cross-section as shown in FIG. 22c, a circular cross-section as shown in FIG. 22 d, an octagonalcross-section as shown in FIG. 22 e, a hexagonal cross-section as shownin FIG. 22 f, or a polygonal cross-section, or another cross-sectionsuitable for coupling radiation efficiently into TLP 1004.

In a first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 a, the collecting andcondensing system 1000 has a reflector 1008 having a first focal point1010 and a second focal point 1011 arranged around a source 1006 ofelectromagnetic radiation 1001 so that source 1006 may be locatedsubstantially proximate to first focal point 1010 of reflector 1008.Reflector 1008 may be, e.g. a substantially ellipsoidal, toroidal,spheroidal, or paraboloidal surface of revolution. Source 1006 producesrays of electromagnetic radiation 1001 that are reflected by reflector1008 toward second focal point 1011, converging substantially at secondfocal point 1011.

In a second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 b, reflector 1008 comprisesa primary reflector 1008 a having a first optical axis 1009 a and afirst focal point 1010 substantially on the first optical axis 1009 a,and a secondary reflector 1008 b having a second optical axis 1009 b anda second focal point 1011 substantially on the second optical axis 1009b which may be arranged substantially symmetrically to primary reflector1008 a. Primary reflector 1008 a may be arranged around source 1006, sothat source 1006 may be located substantially proximate to first focalpoint 1010 of primary reflector 1008 a. First optical axis 1009 a may besubstantially collinear with second optical axis 1009 b. Source 1006produces rays of electromagnetic radiation 1001 that are reflected byprimary reflector 1008 a toward secondary reflector 1008 b, convergingsubstantially at second focal point 1011.

Both of reflectors 1008 a and 1008 b may be, e.g. substantiallyellipsoidal or paraboloidal surfaces of revolution. In the alternative,one of reflectors 1008 a and 1008 b may be e.g. a substantiallyellipsoidal surface of revolution while the other may be a substantiallyhyperboloid surface of revolution.

In either of the abovementioned embodiments, optical coupling element1002 may be placed so that input end 1007 may be substantially proximateto second focal point 1011 so that at least a portion of theelectromagnetic radiation 1001 emitted by the source 1006 may be coupledinto input end 1007.

Electromagnetic radiation 1001 may be transmitted by TLP 1004 to curvedsurface 1003, modifying the area and the divergence angle of the lightalong the length of TLP 1004. Curved surface 1003 then further adjuststhe divergence angle of the light to more closely match the predictedvalues. Curved surface 1003 may also direct the beams of the light tohave more uniform angular distribution from point to point, making theoutput substantially telecentric. In one embodiment, input end 1007 ofthe TLP 1004 can have an octagonal shape such that the output NAdistribution is more circular, as shown in FIG. 25.

The taper transition of TLP 1004 can be straight or curved depending onthe particular applications. The curved surface 1003 and TLP 1004 can bemade in one piece, or made separately and assembled together. If thecurved surface 1003 and TLP 1004 are separate pieces, the refractiveindices between the curved surface 1003 and the TLP 1004 should bematched. TLP 1004 can be made with cladding or without. The outputsurface of TLP 1004 can also be curved for proper matching to specificlenses.

Reflector 1008 may be coated with a coating that reflects only apre-specified portion of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Forexample, the coating may only reflect visible light radiation, apre-specified band of radiation, or a specific color of radiation.Reflector 1008 may further be a portion of substantially ellipsoidal,toroidal, spheroidal, or paraboloidal surfaces of revolution.

In a fifteenth embodiment, shown in FIG. 26, reflectors 2608 a and 2608b are placed facing each other in a substantially symmetricrelationship. A corner 2662 a of primary reflector 2608 a may betruncated along a plane 2660 substantially parallel to first opticalaxis 2609 a. In this way an overall width of primary reflector 2608 amay be less than the diameter of the half circle formed by the outputside of primary reflector 2608 a.

Plane 2660 may be substantially parallel to second optical axis 2609 b,as well, since first optical axis 2609 a may substantially collinear tosecond optical axis 2609 b. A corner 2662 b of secondary reflector 2608b may be truncated along a plane 2660 substantially parallel to firstoptical axis 2609 a. In this way an overall width of secondary reflector2608 b may be less than the diameter of the half circle formed by theoutput side of secondary reflector 2608 b.

The loss of radiation due to the missing corners 2662 a and 2662 b isestimated to be on the order of 10% or 20%. Although primary andsecondary reflectors 2608 a and 2608 b are shown having a gap betweenthem for clarity, they may also be placed adjacent to one another. Thisallows primary and secondary reflectors 2608 a and 2608 b to be made inone piece by, e.g. glass molding.

In FIGS. 27 and 28 is shown a portable front projection system 2700according to a sixteenth embodiment of the invention. Primary andsecondary reflectors 2708 a and 2708 b, which may have truncatedcorners, are placed substantially symmetrically opposite one another. Asource 2706 placed substantially proximate to a first focal point 2710of primary reflector 2708 a reflects radiation 2701 from source 2706toward secondary reflector 2708 b, and thence to a second focal point2707 of secondary reflector 2708 b. An optical coupling element 2702composed of a curved surface 2703 at an output end 2715 of a taperedlight pipe (TLP) 2704 may be located such that input end 2711 isproximate to second focal point 2707 to collect and transmit radiation2701 to, e.g. a projection system.

Source 2706 may, e.g. be removably disposed in a fixture 2770 so thatthe source 2706 can be removed or replaced at the end of its usefullife. The fixture may be, e.g. a fixture of the ‘3:2:1’ varietydescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,497, the disclosure of which isincluded by reference.

A power supply 2772 for source 2706 may be disposed proximate source2706, along with electronics 2774 and ballasts 2776 as appropriate.

In a third embodiment, also shown in FIG. 10 a, a retro-reflector 1012may be placed to reflect at least part of that portion ofelectromagnetic radiation 1001 that does not impinge directly onreflector 1008 back toward reflector 1008 through first focal point 1010to increase the flux intensity of the converging rays. In a preferredembodiment, additional reflector 1012 may be a spherical retro-reflectordisposed on the side of source 1006 opposite reflector 1008 to reflectelectromagnetic radiation 1001 emitted from source 1006 in a directionaway from reflector 1008 back toward reflector 1008 through first focalpoint 1010 of reflector 1008.

In one embodiment, source 1006 may be a light-emitting arc lamp. Source1006 may be, e.g., a xenon lamp, a metal halide lamp, an HID lamp, or amercury lamp. In an alternative embodiment, source 1006 may be afilament lamp.

In a fourth embodiment, also shown in FIG. 10 a, the electromagneticradiation 1001 collected and condensed by optical coupling element 1002may be coupled to an intermediate waveguide 1013 such as a single coreoptic fiber, a fiber bundle, a fused fiber bundle, a polygonal rod, or ahollow reflective light pipe. The cross-section of the intermediatewaveguide 1013 may be circular, polygonal, tapered, or a combinationthereof. Optical coupling element 1002 and waveguide 1013 may be made ofa material such as, e.g. quartz, glass, plastic, or acrylic. A fiberoptic 1014 may be illuminated by the electromagnetic radiation 1001collected and condensed at optical coupling element 1002.

In a fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the electromagneticradiation 1101 collected and condensed by optical coupling element 1102may be coupled to a projection engine 1116.

In a sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, a fiber optic 1214 may beilluminated by the electromagnetic radiation 1201 collected andcondensed at optical coupling element 1202 directly. Fiber optic 1214transmits and releases the collected and condensed electromagneticradiation 1201 to provide illumination at a desired location.

In a seventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, a waveguide basedpolarization recovery system 1300 may be situated to receive lightexiting curved surface 1303. A polarization beam splitter 1391, composedof e.g. two prisms 1390, 1392 in contact with a polarizing film 1395,receives, e.g., unpolarized light from curved surface 1303 and resolvesit into a pair of orthogonally polarized beams 1398 p and 1398 s.Polarized beam 1398 p may be of a polarization, e.g., TE, that may beredirected to output light guide 1399, while polarized beam 1398 s maybe of a polarization, e.g., TM, that is not. Polarized beam 1398 sinstead passes though half-wave plate 1394 with its fast axis at 45° tothe TM plane, thus rotating the polarization of polarized beam 1398 s by90° to match the polarization of polarized beam 1398 p. Polarized beam1398 s may then re-directed by prism 1396 into output light guide 1399as well. The light in output light guide 13099 may thus all be ofsubstantially similar polarization.

In an eighth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, an optical power splitter1490 may be situated to receive light exiting curved surface 1403.Optical power splitter 1490 may include two or more optical lightguides. In particular, for two light guides, first and second outputlight guides 1492 and 1494 may be situated to receive substantiallyequal proportions of light exiting curved surface 1403.

In an ninth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, a second light pipe 1516having an input surface 1518 and an output surface 1520 may be placed sothat input surface 1518 may be proximate to curved surface 1503 of TLP1504 to collect and transmit substantially all of said radiation 1501.In one embodiment, input surface 1518 may be substantially larger thancurved surface 1503. In a preferred embodiment, input surface 1518 maybe substantially twice as large as said curved surface 1503.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15 a, input surface 1518 may be madeup of a first area 1550 coextensive with curved surface 1503 and asecond area 1552 not coextensive with said curved surface 1503. Inanother embodiment, second area 1552 may be coated with a reflectivecoating to reflect radiation back toward output surface 1520.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15 b, a wave-plate 1554 may bedisposed proximate to second area 1552 with a reflective coating on itsoutside surface, to reflect radiation back through wave-plate 1554toward output surface 1520. In this way radiation returned from, e.g. apolarizer with a particular polarization may be re-polarized, such as,e.g. circularly polarized, and re-used.

In a further embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15 c, curved surface 1503 hasa first dimension 1558 and a second dimension 1560, second dimension1560 being substantially orthogonal to first dimension 1558. Inputsurface 1518 has a third dimension 1562 and a fourth dimension 1564,third dimension 1562 being substantially orthogonal to fourth dimension1564. First dimension 1558 may be substantially parallel to and equal tothird dimension 1562 while fourth dimension 1564 may be substantiallyparallel to and twice said second dimension 1560. The designation offirst, second, third and fourth dimensions are, of course, arbitrary andmay be interchanged without deviating from the spirit of the invention.

Second light pipe 1516 may be made of a material such as, e.g. quartz,glass, plastic, or acrylic. Second light pipe 1516 may be, e.g. an SLPor a TLP. Second light pipe 1516 may be, e.g. substantially hollow.

Input surface 1518 of second light pipe 1516 may have, e.g. arectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. 23 a, a square cross-sectionas shown in FIG. 23 b, an elliptical cross-section as shown in FIG. 23c, a circular cross-section as shown in FIG. 23 d, an octagonalcross-section as shown in FIG. 23 e, a hexagonal cross-section as shownin FIG. 23 f, or a polygonal cross-section.

Output surface 1520 may have, e.g. a rectangular cross-section as shownin FIG. 24 a, a square cross-section as shown in FIG. 24 b, anelliptical cross-section as shown in FIG. 24 c, a circular cross-sectionas shown in FIG. 24 d, an octagonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 24 e,a hexagonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 24 f, or a polygonalcross-section. Output surface 1520 may be, e.g. substantially convex.

In a tenth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, a primary reflector 1622 maybe disposed proximate to output surface 1620 of light pipe 1616. Primaryreflector 1622 transmits a first band of radiation 1624 while reflectingsecond and third bands of radiation 1626, 1628. A secondary reflector1630 may also disposed proximate to output surface 1620, near primaryreflector 1622. Secondary reflector 1630 transmits second band ofradiation 1626 while reflecting first and third bands of radiation 1624,1628. A third reflector 1632 may also be disposed proximate to outputsurface 1620, near first and secondary reflectors 1622, 1630. Thirdreflector 1632 transmits third band of radiation 1628 while reflectingfirst and second bands of radiation 1624, 1626.

First, second, and third bands of radiation 1624, 1626, 1628 might be,e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, pink, white,magenta, infrared, or ultra-violet radiation. In a preferred embodimentfirst, second, and third bands of radiation 1624, 1626, 1628 are red,green, and blue radiation, in no particular order.

As shown in FIG. 16, first, second, and third reflectors 1622, 1630, and1632 may be placed parallel to each other, although they could overlapsomewhat. In one embodiment, output surface 1620 could be, e.g. dividedinto a first, second, and third areas 1634, 1636, 1638. In this caseprimary reflector 1622 could be, e.g. a first reflective coating 1640over first area 1634. Secondary reflector 1630 could be, e.g. a secondreflective coating 1642 over second area 1636. Third reflector 1632could be, e.g. a third reflective coating 1644 over third area 1638.

In an eleventh embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, first, second, and thirdreflectors 1722, 1730, and 1732 could be, e.g. distributed around ashaft 1746, in the manner of a color wheel 1748. Color wheel 1748 maybe, e.g. rotatably mounted on shaft 1746 and have a surface composed ofa first, second, and third areas 1750, 1752, 1754 disposed spirallyabout shaft 1746. In this case primary reflector 1722 could be, e.g. afirst reflective coating 1740 over first area 1750. Secondary reflector1730 could be, e.g. a second reflective coating 1742 over second area1752. Third reflector 1732 could be, e.g. a third reflective coating1744 over third area 1754.

In a twelfth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, color wheel 1848 may be,e.g. rotated by an electric motor turning shaft 1846, Radiation 1801incident on color wheel 1848 may go through a sequence as color wheel1848 rotates, producing scrolling color bands. The scrolling color bandsmay be collected and focused onto an image projection system 1864. Theimager may be synchronized to the color wheel and modulated, thusproducing an image that may be projected onto a screen.

In an thirteenth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, a reflective polarizer1966 may be disposed proximate to output surface 1920 to collect andpolarize substantially all of radiation 1910 into a first polarization1968 and a second polarization 1970. For example, radiation of firstpolarization 1968 may be, e.g. p-polarized radiation, while radiation ofsecond polarization 1970 may be, e.g. s-polarized radiation. The orderof polarizations may, of course, be reversed. In one embodiment,reflective polarizer 1966 may be, e.g. a wire-grid polarizer.

A reflective polarizer 1966 might be used if, e.g. image projectionsystem 1964 was of a type that required polarized light, such as, e.g. aliquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) imager. In this case, if imageprojection system 1964 were constructed and arranged to, e.g. utilizeradiation of first polarization 1968, p-polarized radiation 1968 may betransmitted to image projection system 1964 while s-polarized radiation1970, which may be unusable by image projection system 1964 directly,may be reflected substantially back towards the input.

S-polarized radiation 1970 will be returned through second focal point1911 to reflector 1908, and ultimately to first focal point 1910. Someof s-polarized radiation 1970 may pass through first focal point 1910and be reflected by retro-reflector 1912. There will be substantially noloss of etendue since the recovered s-polarized radiation 1970 follows apath through first focal point 1910 and thus appears to be emitted bysource 1906.

The steps of a method for collecting electromagnetic radiation emittedby a source of electromagnetic radiation and focusing the collectedradiation onto a target, according to a fourteenth embodiment of theinvention, are as follows: position a source of electromagneticradiation substantially at a first focal point of a primary reflector;produce rays of radiation by the source; reflect the rays of radiationby the primary reflector substantially towards a secondary reflector;substantially converge the rays of radiation at a second focal point ofthe secondary reflector; position a substantially TLP so that its inputend (which may, e.g. have a cross-section that is rectangular,elliptical, or octagonal) may be substantially proximate to the secondfocal point of the secondary reflector; position a curved surface sothat a center of the curved surface may be substantially proximate tothe output end of the TLP; pass the rays of radiation reflected by thereflector through the substantially TLP of the optical coupling elementand toward the curved surface; adjust the area or the divergence angleof the light as it passes through the substantially TLP of the opticalcoupling element and toward the curved surface.

While the invention has been described in detail above, the invention isnot intended to be limited to the specific embodiments as described. Inparticular, the embodiments described above may also be applied tostandard on-axis elliptical and parabolic reflectors. It is evident thatthose skilled in the art may now make numerous uses and modifications ofand departures from the specific embodiments described herein withoutdeparting from the inventive concepts.

1. A TLP comprising; an input end; a substantially convex output endsubstantially transparently connected to said input end; said input endbeing illuminated with electromagnetic radiation; wherein a first NA ofsaid radiation is transformed into a second NA by said TLP; and whereinsaid first NA is substantially unequal to said second NA. 2-42.(canceled)